Author Guidelines

Pakistan Journal of Analytical and Environmental Chemistry: Author Guidelines

Scope of Journal

Pakistan Journal of Analytical & Environmental Chemistry is biannual publication by National Centre of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry, University of Sindh, Jamshoro. Journal is run by renowed scientsist in the field of analytical chemistry and goverened by a diverse editorial team from round the world (Editorail Board).The journal deals with original research papers written in English in all aspects of analytical and environmental sciences. Journal covers fields of pure and applied analytical chemistry, comprising environmental material, agricultural chemistry, geochemistry, food chemistry, biotechnology, pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences, development and modification of instruments and techniques with potentials in analytical and environmental sciences.

 Publications

The PJAEC publishes original articles in the form of Reviews, Regular papers, current research notes/communications. Reviews are written on invitation, in case an author wishes to write a review, he/she should contact the Editor-in-Chief for consultation. All papers are subject to peer review by independent referees. Suitable manuscripts are selected for publication according to referees reports and editorial assessment.

Submission 

Our online submission system (www.pjaec.pk) guides you stepwise through the process of entering your article details and uploading your files. The system converts your article files to a single PDF file used in the peer-review process. 

Authors should practice the publication ethics and ensure that the following conditions are met prior to submission of manuscript:

• Authorships are genuine and there is NO gift authorship. If found later, corresponding author will be responsible for answering to Journal. This may result in retraction of article.


• Manuscript does not contain any plagiarized data, copied or already published material. Journal retains rights to deal such cases as per international standards. The cases may also be referred to  Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (for Pakistani authors) and affiliated departments.


• Any financial support is mentioned appropriately. Also, support from colleagues is acknowledged in Acknowledgement Section.


• Studies involving animals, clinical trials or human interventions are adequately addressed during studies. Editor may ask for proofs such studies.


• Authorship changes after review process is complete, will be subjected to positive consent by all authors along with justification for change.


• Authors can NOT withdraw articles once accepted.

Publication ethics & malpractice statement (or PEMs)

Ethical guidelines for authors

Adapted with permission from “ethical guidelines to publication of chemical research”, Copyright 1985, 1989, 1995, 2001, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2015 American Chemical Society. Certain modifications are made in adaption process and approved from Editorial Committee of Pak. J. Anal. Environ. Chem.

Who is an author: Author of a research paper is major contributor, who develops ideas; perform fundamental research, thoughtful collaboration and manuscript write-up etc.   An author has thorough understanding of manuscript findings. All coauthors of a paper have the ability and responsibility to publicly defend that paper. A trivial contribution would not be sufficient to confer the status of an author. Lesser contributions to a work can be recognized by clearly crediting such person as a “contributor,” rather than an “author.” An author submitting an article is required to identify all co-authors and any other contributors (and to obtain consent from them for the publication of the article). Where necessary, Journal may seek clarification from authors and contributors to establish exactly who has done what in relation to the article and the research. PJAEC requires that all those who satisfy the authorship criteria as outlined above are in fact credited as co-authors.

Authors are expected to adhere to the following ethical guidelines; infractions may result in the application of sanctions by the editor(s) including but not limited to the suspension or revocation of publishing privileges.

1. An author’s central obligation is to present an accurate and complete account of the research performed and absolutely avoiding deception including the data collected or used as well as an objective discussion of the significance of the research. Data are defined as information collected or used in generating research conclusions. The research report and the data collected should contain sufficient detail and reference to public sources of information to permit a trained professional to reproduce the experimental observations.


2. An author should recognize that journal space is a precious resource created at considerable cost. An author therefore has an obligation to use it wisely and economically.


3. When requested, the authors should make every reasonable effort to provide data, methods, to other researchers, with appropriate material transfer agreements to restrict the field of use of the materials so as to protect the legitimate interests of the authors. Authors are encouraged to submit their data to a public database, where available.


4. An author should cite those publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work and that will guide the reader quickly to the earlier work that is essential for understanding the present investigation. An author is obligated to perform a literature search to find and then cite the original publications that describe closely related work. For critical materials used in the work, proper citation of the sources should also be supplied.


5. Any unusual hazards inherent in the chemicals, equipment, or procedures used in an investigation should be clearly identified in a manuscript reporting the work. Authors should inform the editor if a manuscript could be considered to report research that is based on current understanding and can be reasonably expected to provide knowledge, products or technologies that could be directly misapplied by others to pose a threat to public health and safety, agricultural crops and other plants, animals, the environment or material.


6. Fragmentation of research reports should be avoided. A scientist who has done extensive work on a system or group of related systems should organize publication so that each report gives a well-rounded account of a particular aspect of the general study. Fragmentation consumes journal space excessively and unduly complicates literature searches. The convenience of readers is served if reports on related studies are published in the same journal or in a small number of journals.


7. In submitting a manuscript for publication, an author should inform the editor of related manuscripts that the author has under editorial consideration or in press. Copies of those manuscripts should be supplied to the editor and the relationships of such manuscripts to the one submitted should be indicated.


8. It is improper for an author to submit manuscripts describing essentially the same research to more than one journal of primary publication, unless it is a resubmission of a manuscript rejected for or withdrawn from publication. It is generally permissible to submit a manuscript for a full paper expanding on a previously published brief preliminary account (a “communication” or “letter”) of the same work. However, at the time of submission, the editor should be made aware of the earlier communication and the preliminary communication should be cited in the manuscript.


9. An author should identify the source of all information quoted or offered, except that which is common knowledge. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence or discussion with third parties should not be used or reported in the author’s work without explicit permission from the investigator with whom the information is originated. Information obtained in the course of confidential services such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications should be treated similarly.


10. An experimental or theoretical study may sometimes justify criticism, even severe criticism of the work of another scientist when such appropriate criticism may be offered in published papers. However, in no case any personal criticism should not be considered appropriate.


11. The co-authors of a paper should be all those persons who have made significant scientific contributions to the work reported and who share responsibility and accountability for the results. Authors should appropriately recognize the contributions of technical staff and data professionals. Other contributions should be indicated in a footnote or an “Acknowledgments” section. An administrative relationship to the investigation does not of itself qualify a person for co-authorship (but occasionally it may be appropriate to acknowledge major administrative assistance). Deceased persons who meet the criterion for inclusion as co-authors may be so included with a footnote reporting the date of death. No fictitious name should be listed as an author or coauthor. The author who submits a manuscript for publication accepts the responsibility of including appropriate persons as co-authors. The corresponding author should send each living co-author a draft copy of the manuscript and obtain its co-authorship assent.


12. The corresponding author must reveal to the editor and to the readers of the journal any potential and/or relevant competing financial or other interest (of all authors) that might be affected by publication of the results contained in the authors’ manuscript. Conflicts of interest and sources of funding of the research reported must be clearly stated at the time of manuscript submission and will be included in the published article. In addition, all authors must declare:

(a) The existence of any significant financial interest (>$5,000 or >5% equity interest) in corporate or commercial entities dealing with the subject of the manuscript.

(b) Any employment or other relationship (within the past three years) with entities that have a financial or other interest in the results of the manuscript (to include paid consulting, expert testimony, honoraria, and membership of advisory boards or committees of the entity). The corresponding author must advise the editor at the time of submission either that there is no conflict of interest to declare, or should disclose potential conflicts of interest that will be acknowledged in the published article.

13. Plagiarism is not acceptable in PJAEC. PJAEC adheres to the U.S. National Science Foundation definition of plagiarism as “the appropriation of another person’s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit” (45 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 689.1). Authors should not engage in plagiarism - verbatim or near-verbatim copying, or very close paraphrasing, of text or results from another’s work. Authors should not engage in self-plagiarism (also known as duplicate publication) - unacceptably close replication of the author’s own previously published text or results without acknowledgement of the source. PJAEC applies a “reasonable person” standard when deciding whether a submission constitutes self-plagiarism/duplicate publication. If one or two identical sentences previously published by an author appear in a subsequent work by the same author, this is unlikely to be regarded as duplicate publication. Material quoted verbatim from the author’s previously published work must be placed in quotation marks. In contrast, it is unacceptable for an author to include significant verbatim or near-verbatim portions of his/her own work, or to depict his/her previously published results or methodology as new, without acknowledging the source.


14. Images should be free from misleading manipulation. When images are included in an account of research performed or in the data collection as part of the research, an accurate description of how the images were generated and produced should be provided.

Addition or deletion of co-author after submission of manuscript

1. Addition or deletion of co-author once a manuscript is processed requires positive consent of all authors to make changes in authorship.


2. There will be no change in authorship after manuscript is published.


3. Gift authorship (any author who has not actually contributed) will result in retraction of article and the decision letter will be sent to head of institution or appropriate higher authorities.

Dealing with misconduct

The general principle confirming misconduct is intention to cause others to regard as true that is not true. Deception may be by intention, by reckless disregard of possible consequences, or by negligence. It is implicit; therefore, “the best practice” requires complete honesty with full disclosure in all aspects.

Plagiarism issues

1. Similarity in text of submitted manuscript is scanned through appropriate software. Major overlaps (>19%) are not allowed and the manuscript is returned to author.


2. Copying of data and ideas if found prior or after publication will be addressed seriously. Authors will be asked to provide details and proofs, if found unsatisfactory or no response received from the author; editor will bring it to the notice of institutional head and/or other organization like Higher Education Commission of Pakistan and similar organizations in other countries.


3. Redundant or duplicate publication will be inquired and will be processed as for copying data. Similar actions will be taken to deal with duplicate publication.

Research errors and fraud

Fraud is publishing data or conclusions that were not generated by experiments or observations, but by data manipulation or invention. Changing the data measurements to conveniently fit the desired end result is fraud, but excluding inconvenient results  are deliberate research error, which in effect is the same end result – fraud. Such errors may be reported by reviewers or readers/others, e.g., ‘laboratories don’t have such facilities what they have reported in the manuscript’ or ‘scanning electron microscope images look manipulated’ or ‘author is publishing more than the productivity of single lab or small group’.

1. Procedure, similar to handle plagiarism cases is adopted. Manuscript will be retracted if any fraud or research errors are found; it will be reported to institutional head and higher authorities in the country of author.


2. A two or more independent members Committee will be constituted to investigate fraud cases.

 Financial responsibilities 

Article processing charges Rs. 17000/- per accepted articles (Rs. 2000/- initially as handling charges and Rs. 15000/- after acceptance of manuscript) for National and USD 100/- for international authors, respectively (applies for submissions received after 17th April 2023). In addition, the author has to pay per page charges at the rate of Rs.3000 each color page.

 Referees 

PJAEC is single-blind peer review Journal. Journal have its own database for peers in the field of analytical and environemntal chemistry. Also, authors are encourage to submit three potential reviewers with complete affiliations (spelled out), country and contact details (including current and valid (preferably business) e-mail address). Email addresses and reviewer names will be checked for validity. Your potential reviewers should not be from your institute, and at least two should be from different countries. Authors should not suggest reviewers with whom they have collaborated within the past two years. Editors are NOT bound to send the mansucript for review to the recommended reviewers, this is only to faciliate editors in peer review process.

You can also mention any peer, whom you do not want to send your manuscript for review.

Review Process: 

All received manuscripts are scrutinized as follows

Step-1 Initial Check (In-house)

Check List                              

 
·                Title check in Google Scholar 
·                Author profile in Google or Other Web Sites 
·                All author E-mil address provided 
·                Technically Written 
·                Language Appropriate 
·                Abstract covers the content of text 
·                Experimental properly explained 
·                Figures and Tables appropriately formatted and inserted 
·                Results and Discussion adequate 
·                Conclusion well drawn 
·       References as per Journal requirement e.g; D. S. Matheson, T. W. Clarkson and      E. W. Gelfand, J. Pediatr, 97 (1980) 153.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3476(80)80159-4

 
Comments by Editorial managing Team member:

Signature

 Step-2

Similarity Index and Evaluation by one of the Editors. If submission satisfies the quality criteria of Journal, manuscript is processed for review after getting consent from author regarding publication charges for accepted manuscripts. At this step, author automatically enters into copyright agreement.

Step-3

Manuscript is sent to at least three reviewers in the relevant field. One reviewer must be out Pakistan, preferably from technically advanced countries. Its single-blind review process.

Step-4

On the receipt of review reports, editor decides on revision, rejection or acceptance of manuscript.

 Manuscript Preparation

All manuscripts should be typed in English with double-line spacing and wide (2 cm) margins using A4 paper size Time New Roam font in 12 size is preferable. Manuscripts should be as concise as possible without impairing the clear and precise presentation of the subject matter. Both form and contents of a paper should be carefully checked to exclude the need for corrections in proof. 

Types of paper

Original research papers; review articles; short communications; viewpoints;

Research papers - original full-length research papers which have not been published previously, except in a preliminary form, and should not exceed 7,500 words (including no more than 10 tables/figures - additional tables and figures can be submitted as supplementary material). Research papers should not contain more than 40 references.

Review articles - will be accepted in areas of topical interest, will normally focus on literature published over the previous five years, and should not exceed 10,000 words (including allowance for no more than 6 tables and illustrations). Review articles should not contain more than 80 references.) If it is felt absolutely necessary to exceed this number, please contact the editorial office for advice before submission.

Short communications - Short communications of up to 3000 words, describing work that may be of a preliminary nature but which merits immediate publication. These papers should not contain more than 30 references.

Full papers will be published in six months and Short communications or Current Research Notes will be published rapidly.

Manuscripts layout

The manuscript should start with a concise but informative title followed by the full name of authors, full addresses including fax and e-mail (preferably official IDs) for all authors on first page. Abstract (100-200 words summarizing the significant coverage, findings and results), Keywords (4-6), Introduction, Materials and Methods), Results and Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgement (if any) and References. Print star (*) on the name of corresponding author. For more details see recent issue of the Journal. 

 Declaration of interest 

All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations within three years of beginning the submitted work that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence their work.

Units, Tables and Figures

Metric units should be used. Acceptable abbreviations are given in the Style Manual of the American Chemical Society. Tables should be made with tabs and not inserting the columns and lines. Number all Tables and Figures consecutively with Arabic numerals, and give each clear descriptive caption on separate sheet. Type/ draw them on separate pages. Presentation of figures should be clear. Unclear & vague presentation is not acceptable. For good quality, print the resolution of figures/image should be at least 300 dpi. 

Equations and Formulae

Mathematical equations should preferably be type written in MS-Word using Equation Editor. Numerators and denominators in equations should be clearly typed in separate lines. Avoid brackets to put them in a single line. This causes confusion. Ring formulae, and other complex chemical matter, are difficult to typeset. Therefore, use any related software for equations containing such chemistry. Long reaction sequences should be designated as 'Schemes' and treated like figure, i.e. keep art-work separate from text, indicate in the margins an appropriate position, and supply a separate list of Scheme options. Where necessary, individual chemical formulae can be identified with bold Arabic numbers set over to the right in parentheses.

References

References are indicated in the text by consecutive Arabic numbers in square brackets [ ]. The full list should be collected and typed at the end of the paper in numerical order. Listed references should be complete in all details (excluding article titles) in the Journals. Author's initials should come before name. Journal title abbreviations should conform to the standard style, Examples: Please follow these strictly.

P. Pradhan, R. J. Mascarenhas, T. Thomas, I., N. N. Namboothiri, O. J. D’Souza and Z. Mekhalif, J. Electroanal. Chem., 732 (2014) 30. doi: 10.1016/j.jelechem.2014.08.023

Footnotes

Use of footnotes is not encouraged. A footnote may include the designation of a corresponding author, current address (if different from that shown in affiliation). Information concerning to grant support of research or the assistance of the colleagues should appear in a separate acknowledgment section at the end of paper.
Footnotes should be indicated in the text by the following symbols: * (asterisk or star), + (dagger), ++ (double mark), $ (section mark) and # (number sign). Type each footnote at the bottom of the typescript page on which its text call-out appears. Footnotes within the tables should be indicated by the same symbols listed above. Re-initialize symbol sequence within tables. Type footnotes to table directly beneath the table.

Galley Proofs

Authors will receive proofs by E-mail for correction, which must be returned to the typesetter within a two days of receipt of proofs. Author's alterations in excess of 10% of the original composition will be charged to authors. Authors can also download their full papers from website www.ceacsu.edu.pk, no hard copies will be sent to authors.

 Reprints

 Reprints are usually not provided but a copy of issue will be provided at Rs. 1000/= each for local authors and US$50 each for foregin authors. However reprint can be ordered if request is made with proof and charges are paid for these.

 Complaints if any

Any author or reader can submit complains to Editor-in Chief and Editor in first instance regarding quality of publications, malpractices etc. However, if not responded in one month time, authors can submit complains to Board Members via emails. Disputes or unresolved matters beyond the scope of Editor will be referred to Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (for Pakistani authors only).